Trayvon Martin’s Parents Pushing Forward Plan To Publish Book On Their Son’s Story

‘Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin’ will hit shelves on Jan. 17, just over a month shy of the fifth anniversary of the teen’s death.

Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, the parents of Trayvon Martin, the Florida teenager whose killing sparked a national firestorm about white violence against African-Americans, are writing a book titled Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin. The book will be published by Random House’s One World, the multicultural imprint being rebooted by editor Christopher Jackson, who announced the project in an interview with THR.

The book will hit shelves on Jan. 31, 2017, just ahead of what would have been Trayvon’s 22nd birthday on Feb. 5. The fifth anniversary of Martin’s killing will occur three weeks later, on Feb. 26. Martin was shot by George Zimmerman, who was initially not charged with any crime. After national media drew attention to the case, Zimmerman was tried and acquitted of second degree murder because the prosecution couldn’t effectively challenge his self-defense claim made under the state’s stand your ground law. The acquittal sparked national protests and led to the creation of the Black Lives Matter movement.

“It first brings Trayvon back to life as the full, three-dimensional, complex kid he was, through his parents’ eyes,” says Jackson of the book, “and then to the dark and confusing days following his death, which slowly transform into the blossoming of a powerful, historic movement for change and healing that we’re still watching unfold five years later. Everyone who’s been reading the manuscript is in tears by the second chapter.”